Peace and Justice Post

uruknet.info, May 17, 2011

Online – International News Network

PESHAWAR: Two hundred thirty eight innocent civilians were killed while forty got injured in the drone attacks in tribal areas in the contemporary year sine 1st January till date. According to government sources, important members of Al-Qeada were the target of these drone missile strikes. According to locals, the killed people were locals. From 1st January 2011 till 17th May 2011, 24 drone missile strikes were carried out in North Waziristan and 15 drone missile strikes were carried out in South Waziristan. 45 people were killed in the drone attack on a Jirga soon after the releases of Raymond Davis, after which Chief of Army staff strongly condemned this drone attack.  Continues >>

The ever-rising tensions between the US and Pakistan have taken another major jump today, after two NATO helicopters, at least one of which was confirmed to be a US military helicopter, crossed into the North Waziristan Agency of Pakistan from Afghanistan.

The incursion was brief but sparked an exchange of fire with Pakistani border soldiers. The US claimed that the helicopters were attacked while still inside Afghanistan’s Khost Province, while Pakistani officials say that the shooting began after they crossed into Waziristan. The exchange of fire left two Pakistani soldiers wounded.

It is not the first time that the border has seen incursions. US helicopters launched a raid in September which killed more than 60 tribesmen who they said fled across the border from Afghanistan. The incident sparked a warning from the Pakistani government.

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Following the revelation of the top military intelligence official, Michael Laurie, that Iraq dossier was written to make case of war, analysts said that the Iraq Inquiry is aimed at finding errors which have been made by the UK officials in invading to Iraq, has been leading depressing affair.

They believed that the Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq war has already cost millions of pounds, and lasted for two years and exactly when the key witnesses stood at the Inquiry to give evidence on the disastrous Iraq War, the inquiry officials started asking imprecise and inadequate questions.

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In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the cosmologist shares his thoughts on death, M-theory, human purpose and our chance existence

Ian Sample, science corresponden, The Guardian, May 17, 2011

Stephen Hawking dismisses belief in God in an exclusive interview with the Guardian. Photograph: Solar & Heliospheric Observatory/Discovery Channel

A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a “fairy story” for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said.

In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain’s most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time.

Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, shares his thoughts on death, human purpose and our chance existence in an exclusive interview with the Guardian today.

The incurable illness was expected to kill Hawking within a few years of its symptoms arising, an outlook that turned the young scientist to Wagner, but ultimately led him to enjoy life more, he has said, despite the cloud hanging over his future.

“I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first,” he said.

“I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark,” he added.

M&C News, May 16, 2011,

by Ron Ridenour , Dissident Voice, May 16th, 2011

Forty-seven governments on the Untied Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) will discuss and decide, beginning at its May 30th session, what to do about an unusually truthful report in the world of international politics.

The “Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka” was delivered to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on March 31 concerning: 1) alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the last phases of the 26-year old civil war, September 2008 to May 19, 2009; 2) consequences for approximately 300,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and, by extension, for 2.7 million Sri Lankan Tamils, 13% of the 21 million population.

After receiving the report, which calls for investigations into these allegations, Ban Ki-moon stated that he did not have the power alone but one of three UN bodies had to request such action, either the General Assembly or the Security Council or the Human Rights Council.

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AHRC, May 17, 2011

Hunger Alert General: AHRC-HAG-001-2011

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PAKISTAN: Military threatens food security of farmers by illegal land grabbing

ISSUES: Food security; peasants; right to land; false charges; militarism
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the food security of peasants in the Punjab has been threatened by illegal land grabbing by the military for decades. The peasants have been cultivating the land from their forefathers who were asked to settle and cultivate the land in 1913. However, the military-run corporations and family members of retired military officers have gradually occupied the land without illegally. The peasants are struggling for their right to land and facing serious human rights violations including murder and false charges being laid against them whereas the Punjab government has consistently failed to protect their rights. In addition, many villagers are forced to pay money to the military under threat. It is also alleged that the military corporations have leased the land to the UAE countries. The Punjab government in associated with the military allotted some land to the villages of Okara area as a compromise instead of taking the total land back to the peasants. In 2010, the government pledged to provide the funding for housing construction as well as a school and hospital in the villages which is yet substantiated.

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Bill Van Auken, wsws.org, May 17, 2011

The Obama administration’s reaction to Israel’s massacre Sunday of unarmed Palestinian protesters on its borders underscores the hypocrisy of those ascribing “humanitarian” motives to Washington’s predatory policy in the region.

Israeli troops opened fire with live ammunition and, in one case, tank fire on Palestinians who demonstrated on Israel’s borders with Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza. Tens of thousands joined in the protests, which were called to commemorate the 63^rd anniversary of the Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe), the term used by the Palestinians for Israel’s declaration of independence and the wholesale ethnic cleansing that drove three-quarters of a million Palestinians from their homes in 1948.

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Testimonies posted on YouTube by campaign group describe routine harassment and humiliation of Palestinian civilians

Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem, The Guardian, May 16, 2011

Campaign group Breaking the Silence has met with a hostile response from Israel, especially after it published testimony by soldiers who took part in the war on Gaza in 2008-09. Photograph: Ali Ali/EPA

Transgressions by the Israeli army in the occupied Palestinian territories will be disclosed by a group of former soldiers in an internet campaign aimed at raising public awareness of military violations.

Video testimonies by around two dozen ex-soldiers – some of whom are identifying themselves for the first time – will be posted on YouTube. The campaign by Breaking the Silence, an organisation of former soldiers committed to speaking out on military practices, launches with English subtitles on Monday.

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Campaigners condemn decision not to include ‘murky’ issue of detainee transfers in investigation as ‘only doing half the job’

By Brian Brady, Whitehall Editor, The Independent, May 15, 2011

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Griffin: Said UK handed captives to US, knowing they would be mistreated

An inquiry into Britain’s involvement in torture during the “war on terror” will not investigate whether UK forces handed over suspects to be transported to other countries for interrogation by the Americans – despite David Cameron’s assurance that it would probe all aspects of the controversy.

The head of the Detainee Inquiry ordered by Mr Cameron has confirmed that he will not consider the issue of detainees transferred between forces fighting in Iraq and elsewhere, which has been identified by many critics as one of the murkiest elements of the “extraordinary rendition” saga.

Campaigners last night condemned the decision, which contradicts assurances made by the Prime Minister when he set up the inquiry last year.

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